Las Vegas Figure Irving (Ash) Resnick

LAS VEGAS — Irving (Ash) Resnick, a longtime gaming figure credited with luring high rollers to the Las Vegas Strip, died Wednesday. He was 72.

Resnick died of heart failure at Humana Hospital Sunrise after being hospitalized after a long bout with cancer.

His forte was bringing gamblers to Las Vegas casinos for high-stakes gambling, and he organized the first junkets that later became a fixture of the casinos.

Resnick's Las Vegas career spanned four decades and included stints at Caesars Palace, the Aladdin, the Dunes, the Tropicana, the old El Rancho and Thunderbird hotels and most recently the Maxim Hotel.

He was credited with starting the first baccarat game at the Dunes. Baccarat is now featured at most Strip hotels.

In 1974, Resnick was convicted of income tax evasion while employed at Caesars Palace. The government alleged that Resnick skimmed more than $300,000 from Caesars and failed to pay taxes on it. The decision was later overturned.